Separation Anxiety
by mascaret
Summary: The ink on Sharon's divorce papers isn't even dry yet ...
1. Chapter 1

A/N An old fic that I never posted because at the time I wrote it, I couldn't for the life of me think of a title. I don't think that there is anything in it that would cause it to run au.

 _Separation Anxiety_

 _Chapter 1_

Andrea had such a feeling of deja vu walking into the squad room. Eying the eight layer monstrosity in the corner, she asked. "Did you guys break up _another_ wedding?"

Provenza tried his best to make his tone appropriately snooty as he informed her. "It's not a wedding cake. It's a _divorce cake_."

"Ah!" Andrea caught on. "So the groom didn't topple over in transport. He's suppose to be sprawled out at the bottom of the staircase. I wondered why the bride's foot was sticking out like that."

"You want a slice?" Sykes asked.

"I could eat." Andrea agreed. "But first I really need to talk to the Captain."

"Take a number." Flynn grumbled.

Andrea glanced over at the Captain's office and winced as she recognized the party deep in conversation with Sharon. "Ouch. Closed door meeting with FID. Do I ask or should I be trying to maintain plausible deniability?"

Provenza rolled his eyes. "That's the second FID guy to come in today for a coffee consult."

Since she had to wait, Andrea saw no harm – except to her waistline – in indulging. She let Amy cut her a wedge while listening to Flynn grumble.

"As soon as word got out about the Captain's divorce, the vultures started circling."

"I know how you guys feel about FID, but they exist for a reason." Andrea's eyes couldn't help but drift towards Sanchez as she spoke.

Flynn clarified exactly what he meant by vulture. "We had ourselves an actual Pope sighting. Haven't seen hide nor hair of the guy in how many years, but out of the blue he showed up to tell us what a great job we're doing and to marvel that Provenza was still alive."

"He's a vulture." Andrea agreed.

Looking like a puppy dog in a pet shop window waiting for someone to pick him, Flynn kept throwing glances in the direction of Sharon and her former colleague from FID.

After taking another bite, Andrea poked at Flynn by asking. "Has Judge Grove been by yet?"

Tao answered instead. "He has. Yesterday. Rios happened to get here right after him. She sent him _packing_. She doesn't want Stroh to be able to argue that there was as much as a _hint_ of any ex parte communication."

Eyes narrowing, Provenza pointed out. "A good lawyer _never_ asks a question she _doesn't_ know the answer to."

Andrea smiled. "Why Louie, are you calling me a good lawyer?"

When Provenza just scowled, Andrea stole another quick glance towards Andy before answering. "I may have mentioned Sharon's divorce to him in passing."

Provenza wasn't above name calling. "You little shyster, you."

Andrea shrugged. "Judge Grove is one of the fairest, most conscionable jurists you will ever meet – which is why Rios didn't want him getting into a position where he might have to recuse himself. He would _never_ allow himself to be unduly influenced, but the subconscious mind ..." Hobbs trailed off demurely.

" ... is unconscious." An unamused Provenza provided for her.

"This cake is fabulous." Andrea took another bite before asking. "Gavin?"

"Gavin's gay!" Andy protested before suddenly looking unsure. "Isn't he?"

Yanking Flynn's chain was too easy. Andrea tipped her head towards the seriously over the top cake. "I meant the cake. Was Gavin responsible for it?"

"Oh. Yeah." Flynn answered less animatedly.

Entering the squad room, Rusty took a look through the open blinds of Sharon's office and rolled his eyes. "Seriously? That clown again?"

Rather than check in with Sharon, Rusty tried to get Flynn's attention. "Andy, can I talk to you a sec?"

"Sure kid. What's up?"

Clearly uncomfortable with all the eyes now on him, Rusty added. "Not here."

As soon as Andy was gone, Sanchez turned to Andrea. "I guess you're not Team Flynn?"

"What makes you say that?" Andrea asked.

"Well … because you told Judge Grove." Sanchez pointed out.

"Judge Grove was going to find out eventually whether I told him or not."

"True." Sanchez conceded.

Andrea took her time flaying a forkful of frosting from the cake before adding. "But if I was really Team Grove I wouldn't have said it in front of Rios and then as soon as Judge Grove left tried to make a wager with her on whether he was headed directly over to ask Sharon out or if he would stop for flowers on the way ..."

An irritated Provenza barked. "How diabolical!"

But Sanchez sounded impressed. "Don't ever go to the dark side and start working for the defense."

 _tbc_


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Oops! Yes, you can tell this was an old fic pulled from the vault because it was written before we found out Judge Grove was married. I'm just going to leave it as is, but thanks for the catch.

 _Chapter 2_

"Andy, can I talk to you a sec?"

Andy dragged his attention away from Sharon's office to focus on Rusty. "Sure kid. What's up?"

He wasn't the only one to turn his chair and his attention.

Uncomfortable with all the eyes now on him, Rusty added. "Not here."

Andy followed Rusty to the break room. Rusty looked about as uncomfortable as Andy had ever seen him.

Andy waited for Rusty to start.

"You met my mom – my _other_ mom." Rusty clarified. "So it won't come as a big surprise to you to find out that I've already done the single mom bringing home the creepy boyfriends and the really inappropriate father figures bit ..."

"Yeah." Andy could only imagine. He would listen if Rusty wanted to talk about his experiences, but he knew better than to try to push for details if the kid didn't offer.

Playing with the straps on his knapsack and looking anywhere but at him, Rusty told Andy. "... I just wanted to say that out of all the creepy boyfriend candidates running around, if I _had_ to pick one for Sharon, it would be ..."

Listening to Rusty, feeling quite touched, Andy couldn't help but stand a little taller.

"... Lieutenant Provenza."

Andy blinked. Thinking about it, he realized that for Rusty Provenza made sense in a bizarre sort of way – after all, Sharon was Rusty's mom and Provenza – God save them all – had become something of a father figure to him.

A little stunned, Andy tried to think of what to say to that.

Before he could come up with anything, a nervous Rusty shrugged a shoulder and continued. "But you know, a pretty decent second choice would be ... "

Andy's expression softened.

"... Buzz."

Andy's softened expression turned into an eye roll – until a resigned sounding Rusty kept going. "But I guess, you're not so bad either."

Andy let out a puff of air and shook his head. "Gee thanks, kid."

Andy wasn't too hard on him though. He could tell by the antsy way the kid was acting that this was a hard conversation for him to be having and he was _hopefully_ just trying to use humor to make the situation easier.

Still toying with the strap of his knapsack and looking anywhere but at him, Rusty got serious.

"Look Andy, you and Sharon have been _not_ dating for a while now and I know that you have been moving at the pace of a glacier with her because that is what she's comfortable with, but you are going to need to man up and pick up the pace.

"Being patient with her when she was still married to Jack was one thing, because it was just you, but that ring on her hand must have been like the one in the Lord of the Rings that kept the wearer invisible because as soon as that thing came off ...

"That guy in her office - the one that she used to work with in FID - he already came by the apartment wanting to take her out to dinner claiming he needed to pick her brain about some old case he's reworking. There was Judge Grove and then, _and then_ there was Jack's _brother_ – which is _every_ kind of wrong by the way – and ..."

Rusty had to stop to take a breath before ending. "Look Andy, all I am saying is that you shouldn't wait too long."

Done getting out everything he had to say, Rusty finally looked him in the eye. "Okay?"

A little bowled over, Andy nodded. "Okay."

As Rusty started to turn and leave the break room, Andy stopped him.

"Rusty … Thanks."

Rusty was back to shrugging. "You're good to her and you make her happy. Why wouldn't I want her to be happy? Sharon deserves to be happy."

"That she does." Andy agreed. He put his hand on Rusty's shoulder a second before they walked back out together.

 _tbc_

A/N Would love to hear your thoughts on the story so far.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N I always found the difference in management styles between Brenda & Sharon interesting. Showing up at every crime scene, Brenda was much more of a micro manager than Sharon. From the beginning, Sharon seemed to just trust her people to do their jobs and do them well. As much as I loved the Provenza/Flynn shenanigans, they didn't seem to occur with the same frequency or to the same degree as in _The Closer_ years. I have attributed a reason to that.

 _Chapter 3_

Buoyed by the kid's show of support, Flynn made a decision. Once the others from the squad had gone home for the day and they had a quiet moment alone, he shared it with Provenza.

"I'm going to tell Sharon how I feel about her."

Provenza sternly warned him. _"Don't you dare!"_

"Why not? I mean she has to at least suspect by now. And I don't think she would be spending as much time with me as she does if she didn't feel _something_ for me too."

Looking greatly put upon, Provenza again told him. _"Don't_ do it. _"_

"Why?"

"Because it's a _bad_ idea." Provenza insisted.

"Why?" Andy kept asking. "What makes it such a bad idea?"

 _"Everything_ about it makes it a bad idea. There is not a single thing about it that would make it a good idea."

"I'm serious." Andy argued.

Provenza started detailing his reasoning for why he thought it was a bad idea. "You work together. As soon as the two of you start actually dating, one of you will have to go because you can't honestly expect Rule Book Raydor to agree to keep things quiet and just see how things go!"

Andy scoffed. "Since when have _you_ ever cared about department policy? Not that it matters. I checked - our dating wouldn't _actually_ be breaking any rules."

Provenza made a face. "You're right - I _don't_ care about breaking department policy, but even if it's not technically against the rules, there's a reason people say you shouldn't …"

Provenza was clearly struggling to come up with an alternative to a certain common, but crass expression.

"... _fish_ off the company pier." Provenza finished.

"Think this through, Andy. Against the rules or not - how do you think it's going to work for her? The two of you getting closer and her having to be the one to send you into danger every day? Her _having_ no choice, but to send _you_ because she's far too _fair_ to play favorites. And are you really going to tell me that if you two start dating, you are going to be able to _not_ go all _Julio_ on the next perp who takes a pot shot at her?"

"No, I'm not going to tell you that I'm going to be able to _not_ go all Julio on the next perp who takes a shot at her, but if you remember, I already went _all_ went _Julio_ on the last perp that took a shot at her. We _all_ did!" Andy pointed out.

Provenza grimaced. "I am telling you, you're better off leaving things the way that they are now."

"I disagree."

Provenza tried a different tactic to discourage him. "Have you gotten a look at the cute new evidence clerk? Her name is Tammy or Sammy or -"

Having had enough, Andy stopped him. "That's still the company pier. Cut the crap. What exactly is your problem with the idea of me dating Sharon? I know you two had your problems in the past back when she was in FID, but I thought you were past that? What gives?"

Provenza visibly wavered before finally snapping and answering. "My problem with you and the Captain dating isn't with her – it's with _you!"_

Andy was stunned. "What?"

"She's a _swan_ , Andy. Swans, they mate for life. You and I, Andy ..." Provenza looked more than a touch remorseful as he admitted. "You and I, we're hound dogs. We mean well, but we just don't have the attention span to go the distance."

Provenza admitted. "I don't want you two dating because I don't want to see her get hurt!"

Andy was too struck by Provenza's protectiveness of Sharon to be as offended as he maybe should have.

"I think you're projecting." Andy suggested. "You're the one that got caught by wife number one with the shorty thereafter wife number two and then again got caught with wife number two by wife number three which led to wife number two becoming wife number two _and_ four."

Andy didn't leave Provenza time to work out if he had gotten his partner's muddled love life right before swinging the conversation back to the issue at hand. _"That_ was never the problem in my marriage. My marriage problems stemmed from the long work hours and my drinking. Sharon understands the hours."

"-And the drinking." Provenza pointed out.

"I'm not like Jack. I _know_ that I have a drinking problem. I _admit_ that I have a drinking problem. That's part of how I've been able to get and _stay_ sober for such a long time - _because_ I realized that for me drinking is a problem.

"Sure." Andy further addressed the hound dog allegation. "I may have been a little fly by night in some of my relationships since my divorce but that's kind of the point of dating a stewardess or a cocktail waitress half my age."

"And that social worker?" Provenza countered. "What was the problem with her?"

"It's different with Sharon." Andy tried to explain. " _I'm_ different with Sharon. The same way that you're different with Sharon. She makes you be more serious because she takes you seriously. She doesn't dismiss you as the bozo who lost a body or missed the jewelry store robbery happening right under his nose. She treats you with respect. She gives you responsibility. She gives you her trust and it makes you work all the harder not to disappoint her."

Provenza couldn't seem to come up with anything to say against that.

"Sharon and I, we're friends. With her married, anything else – it wasn't on the table. It wasn't even a question. I knew that and I respected that. I think that she respected that I respected that. In a way, her being married kind of made us getting to know each other easier. There wasn't that awkwardness, that nervousness about what was going to happen. There wasn't that impatience to get through the getting to know you stage and get to the physical part of the relationship.

"But now that she's not married …" Andy trailed off before admitting. "Jack was one thing. Jack predated me. I don't know that I could stand to see her be with someone else knowing I didn't at least try to tell her how I feel."

"The status quo, Andy ..." Sounding almost resigned to the idea, Provenza made one last ditch effort. "You have a great life now, Andy. Work is going well. You have a friend in the Captain. You're in a good place with one of your two children and the other one is no longer hanging up the phone as soon as he realizes it's you on the other end. Concentrate on that. There's nothing wrong with keeping things the way that they are. The bird in the hand, Andy ..."

Provenza started mixing his metaphors. "Don't go upsetting the apple cart."

Andy put his hands in his pockets. Shaking his head, he disagreed. "I really think Sharon and I could make a go of it."

Provenza sighed in defeat before insisting. "Just … promise me you'll put a little more thought into this."

Andy agreed. "I will."

Shaking his head, Provenza didn't look like he believed him. "Andy ... Don't you dare hurt her."

 _tbc_

A/N Yes? No? Maybe?


	4. Chapter 4

A/N An old fic that I never posted because at the time I wrote it I couldn't for the life of me think of a title.

 _Separation Anxiety_

 _Chapter 4_

Andy tapped on Sharon's closed door before sticking his head in. "You got a second?"

Beckoning him forward, Sharon answered his question with a question. "Have you had dinner yet?"

From the doorway, Andy answered. "Ah … no, I haven't."

"Do you want to get some? I just need to finish this last report for Chief Taylor."

"I do, but ..."

Andy stepped into the room and reclosed the door. Nervous, he approached her desk.

He was trying to formulate how best to start – something he probably should have planned for a little better before knocking on Sharon's door - but seeing the paper in his hand, Sharon just took it from him.

After no more than a glance – and before he could say anything - her expression changed to one of shock and hurt. "Andy? These are transfer papers? You want to go back to Robbery Homicide?"

"Yes. _No._ "

Confusion joined the hurt that was plain on her face.

Andy tried to explain. "Sharon, I like you. I really do. I think you're pretty terrific, but ..."

Andy shook his head and started over. "Look, I don't want to be the creepy guy who starts sniffing around before the ink is even dry on your divorce papers – but I also don't want to be the guy who loses his chance because he waited too long to say anything."

Her disappointment and confusion were being quickly displaced by panic.

"Andy, we work together. I'm your supervisor. I -"

He stopped her right there. "- I know. Listen, I can't do anything about my feelings for you, but I can do something about you being my boss. I know us working together could be a problem not just for you, but for both of us so I want to take that out of the equation."

Sharon said it with such disbelief. "Andy … You're going to leave Major Crimes?"

Andy shrugged. "I've worked with some of these guys for longer than I care to say and I love working with them. To me, they're more like family than some of my actual family. I never thought I would leave this squad willingly, but that's how much I care about you and how confident I am that we could make this work."

Speechless, Sharon looked back down at the paper on her desk. Resting her finger tips on it, she stared at it a moment, before picking her head back up.

She still looked dazed. "Andy, so many things in my life are in flux right now. There are some things that I'm just not ready to have change yet. I _just_ got divorced. I know Jack and I were separated for decades so it shouldn't seem like a big deal, but to me it is. I need time to process everything that is happening.

"Andy ..." Her expression turned worried as if she was concerned about what his reaction would be. "... I'm just not ready to start dating you or anyone else right now. So for now ..."

She didn't hand the transfer papers back to him. Instead, she opened her desk drawer. The drawer where the old chief used to keep her candy stash. "... For now, I'd like to table this discussion."

Andy mulled it over for a moment. His fear had been waiting too long and not getting a chance to tell Sharon how he felt, but now the ball was in Sharon's court. "I can live with that."

Almost hesitantly, Sharon asked. "Did you still want to get dinner?"

That one he didn't have to mull over at all before answering. "Of course I do."

He couldn't help but smile back at Sharon's look of relief.

"I'll be at my desk when you're ready – _for dinner_ I mean."

Andy showed himself out.

 _tbc_


	5. Chapter 5

A/N An old fic that I never posted because at the time I wrote it I couldn't for the life of me think of a title.

 _Separation Anxiety_

 _Chapter 4_

Andy tapped on Sharon's closed door before sticking his head in. "You got a second?"

Beckoning him forward, Sharon answered his question with a question. "Have you had dinner yet?"

From the doorway, Andy answered. "Ah … no, I haven't."

"Do you want to get some? I just need to finish this last report for Chief Taylor."

"I do, but ..."

Andy stepped into the room and reclosed the door. Nervous, he approached her desk.

He was trying to formulate how best to start – something he probably should have planned for a little better before knocking on Sharon's door - but seeing the paper in his hand, Sharon just took it from him.

After no more than a glance – and before he could say anything - her expression changed to one of shock and hurt. "Andy? These are transfer papers? You want to go back to Robbery Homicide?"

"Yes. _No._ "

Confusion joined the hurt that was plain on her face.

Andy tried to explain. "Sharon, I like you. I really do. I think you're pretty terrific, but ..."

Andy shook his head and started over. "Look, I don't want to be the creepy guy who starts sniffing around before the ink is even dry on your divorce papers – but I also don't want to be the guy who loses his chance because he waited too long to say anything."

Her disappointment and confusion were being quickly displaced by panic.

"Andy, we work together. I'm your supervisor. I -"

He stopped her right there. "- I know. Listen, I can't do anything about my feelings for you, but I can do something about you being my boss. I know us working together could be a problem not just for you, but for both of us so I want to take that out of the equation."

Sharon said it with such disbelief. "Andy … You're going to leave Major Crimes?"

 _Chapter 5_

Pulling up in front of Sharon's building, Andy put the car in park.

Sharon spoke first. "Dinner was nice."

Andy raised an eyebrow. "You sound surprised."

"I was worried it would be awkward after ..."

"I know. Me too." Andy admitted. "But it wasn't."

"No, it wasn't." Sharon agreed. "Thank you for that."

"Thank you." Andy answered back smiling. He reached out a hand to take hers and give it a little squeeze.

He meant it only as a friendly gesture - it was something he had done many a time.

But he caught her staring down at their joined hands.

Thinking he had overstepped some newly in place line, he pulled his hand back and started to stammer out an apology. "Sharon, I - I'm -"

He stopped when tilting her head, Sharon leaned towards him and brushed her lips against his.

Andy didn't resist, but confused by her mixed messages, he hesitated a moment – but _only_ a moment before kissing her back. As soon as she moved her arms to be around his neck, he allowed himself to bury his hands in her hair.

When after a few minutes, she finally pulled back, a confused Andy questioned her. "I thought you said you needed time?"

"Did I did say that?" Sharon asked with an impish smile before admitting. "I did say that and I don't want to rush anything, but … we could take things a little slow."

 _"A little slow."_ Andy repeated a bit in disbelief. Given that they had _just_ shared their first kiss ... Andy wasn't sure what could possibly constitute 'slow' in Sharon's mind if it wasn't what they had been doing the past few years.

She was staring at him and her hand was still resting on his shoulder. Looking at her, Andy nodded in agreement. "I can do slow."

She started to lean in to again kiss, but paused. "Oh and Andy … no more talk about transferring."

"Okay." Andy immediately capitulated on that as well.

 _OOO_

The reception was in full swing. The bride and the groom were glowing as they took to the dance floor.

Another pair wasn't looking so happy.

Amy didn't really know Gavin at all, so Andrea was the one she addressed. "Why so glum? I thought you were Team Flynn?"

Watching the newlyweds, Andrea sighed. "Don't get me wrong – I like Andy and all, but I had my whole later-in-life plan all worked out and he just threw a wrench in it."

"I'm not following." Amy admitted.

"If, by the time Sharon and I were ready to retire, I still wasn't married and she was still married to Jack, we were going to shack up."

"What do you mean _shack up_?" A suspicious Provenza asked.

"Like on _The Golden Girls_. Jack is beyond useless so when we got too old to live alone anymore, the three of us - Sharon, Gavin and I - were going to move in together like on _The Golden Girls._ We just needed to find our Sophia."

"Any candidates?" Julio asked.

"We never actually got around to asking, but we talked about it amongst ourselves ... about who we knew who is a short, white haired, sharp witted, crotchety, old grump with a heart of gold ..."

Andrea didn't come right out and say it, but hers and everyone else's gaze shifted to Provenza.

Provenza looked annoyed, but Patrice erupted into peals of laughter.

Andrea continued to sulk. "Now we've lost our Sophia and our Rose."

Sanchez balked. "She was your Rose?! You consider Sharon Raydor to be a dimwit?"

"I wouldn't say dimwitted, but she is sweet and she can be a little naive - slow even at times ..." Andrea trailed off.

Gavin was a little more blunt. "How many _years_ were her &Flynn dating before she realized that they were dating?"

Not having an argument for that, Sanchez admitted the point and lost his air of being offended on Sharon's behalf.

Andrea sighed again.

Gavin leaned over to rest his head on her shoulder. "You can be the Grace to my Will."

Andrea pouted. "Do we still get an endless supply of cheesecake?"

 _finis_

A/N Thanks for taking the time to read & review.


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